ML11264A132

Applicant'S Surreply to the Combined Reply of Riverkeeper, Inc. and Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc

ML11264A132
Person / Time
Site:	Indian Point
Issue date:	09/21/2011
From:	Bessette P M, O'Neill M J, Sutton K M Morgan, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP, Entergy Nuclear Operations
To:	Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
SECY RAS
References
RAS 21098, 50-247-LR, 50-286-LR, ASLBP 07-858-03-LR-BD01
Download: ML11264A132 (7)

Text

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD In the Matter of ) Docket Nos. 50-247-LR and

) 50-286-LR ENTERGY NUCLEAR OPERATIONS, INC. )

)

(Indian Point Nuclear Generating Units 2 and 3) )

) September 21, 2011

APPLICANT'S SURREPLY TO THE COMBINED REPLY OF RIVERKEEPER, INC. AND HUDSON RIVER SLOOP CLEARWATER, INC.

Pursuant to the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board's September 20, 2011 Order, 1 Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. ("Entergy") files this surreply to "Riverkeeper, Inc. and Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc.'s Combined Reply to NRC Staff and Entergy's Answers in Opposition to Motion to Admit New Contention Regarding the Fukushima Task Force Report" ("Combined Reply") and the associated Reply Memorandum filed on September 13, 2011.

2 As Riverkeeper and Clearwat er (jointly, "Inter venors") readily ac knowledge, the core premise of their proposed New Contention is that the Near-Term Report 3 prepared by the NRC's Fukushima Task Force contains "new and significant information" within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") a nd the NRC's 10 C.F.R. Part 51 regulations.

4 1 Licensing Board Order (Granting Entergy's Motion to File Surreply) (Sept. 20, 2011) (unpublished).

2 See Reply Memorandum Regarding Timeliness and Admissibility of New Contentions Seeking Consideration of Environmental Implications of Fukushima Task Force Report in Individual Reactor Licensing Proceedings (Sept. 13, 2011) ("Reply Memorandum").

3 Recommendations for Enhancing Reactor Safety in the 21st Century, The Near-Term Task Force Review of Insights from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Accident (July 12, 2011) ("Near-Term Report") (transmitted to the Commission via SECY-11-0093, "Near-Term Report and Recommendations for Agency Actions Following the Events in Japan" (July 12, 2011), available at ADAMS Accession No. ML11186A950 (package).

4 See Reply Memorandum at 8 ("The central thrust of the contention is that the Task Force Report constitutes 'significant new information' under NEPA and the NEPA Documents need to be supplemented accordingly.");

Intervenors, characterizing thei r New Contention as one based on "omission," allege that the Staff's Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement ("FSEIS") does not address new and significant information purportedly contained in the Near-Term Report.

5 Intervenors further suggest the Commission's re cent ruling in CLI-11-05 6 supports their position and the admission of the New Contention.

7 CLI-11-05, in fact, commands precisely the opposite result-de nial of the New Contention as inadmissible under 10 C.F.R. § 2.309(f)(2). In CLI-11-05, the Commission held that the Near-Term Report does not contain new and significant information that would trigger the need for an immediate generic NEPA review by the NRC or supplementation of any final environmental impact statements ("EISs") pr epared in connection with individual licensing proceedings. The Commission's Order is explicit: To merit this additional [NEPA] review, information must be both "new" and "significant," and it must bear on the proposed action or its impacts. As we have explained, "[t]he new information must present 'a seriously different picture of the environmental impact of the proposed project from what was previously envisioned.'" That is not the case here, given the current state of information available to us

.8 Intervenors fail to acknowledge the clear import of CLI-11-05 by arguing that the Commission and its Staff have shirked their NEPA obligations to consider whether the Near-Term Report constitutes new and significant inform ation that must be co nsidered in individual

id. at 12 ("The contentions, however, are based upon the new and significant information contained in the Task Force Report.").

5 See id. at 6, 8; see also Combined Reply at 3.

6 See Union Elec. Co. (Callaway Plant, Unit 2), CLI-11-05, 74 NRC __, slip op. (Sept. 9, 2011).

7 See Reply Memorandum at 2 (stating that CLI-11-05 "contains language that bears on the timeliness and admissibility of the contentions").

8 CLI-11-05, slip op. at 31 (quoting and citing Hydro Res., Inc. (2929 Coors Road, Suite 101, Albuquerque, NM 87120), CLI-99-22, 50 NRC 3, 14 (1999); Marsh v. Or. Natural Res. Council, 490 U.S. 360, 373 (1989); Sierra Club v. Froehlke, 816 F.2d 205, 210 (5th Cir. 1987)) (emphasis added).

reactor licensing decisions.

9 But that argument fails for two re asons. First, as noted above, the Commission explicitly rejected the proposition that the Near-Term Report contains new and significant information that is rele vant to any generic or site-specific analysis of environmental impacts under NEPA and 10 C.F.R. Part 51.

10 Second, the Commission stated unequivo cally that any request to undertake a supplemental NEPA review in response to the events at Fukushima is "premature."

11 The NRC continues to evaluate the Fukushima accident and its implications for U.S. facilities. As the Commission put it, "the full picture of what happened at Fukushima is still far from clear" and, as such, any related NEPA duty "does not accrue now."

12 Accordingly, for the reasons set forth above and in Entergy's September 6, 2011 Answer, 13 the Near-Term Report does not contain "new and significant" information that necessitates supplemental NEPA review by Entergy or the NRC Staff as part of this proceeding. CLI-11-05, an Order of the Commission that is bi nding on this Board, compels denial of the New Contention as inadmissible.

9 See Reply Memorandum at 4.

10 CLI-11-05, slip op. at 30-31.

11 Id. at 30. 12 Id. 13 See Applicant's Answer to Riverkeeper, Inc. and Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc.'s Motion to Admit New Contention Regarding the Fukushima Task Force Report (Sept. 6, 2011).

Respectfully submitted, Signed (electronically) by Martin J. O'Neill William C. Dennis, Esq. Kathryn M. Sutton, Esq.

Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. Paul M. Bessette, Esq. 440 Hamilton Avenue Martin J. O'Neill, Esq.

White Plains, NY 10601 MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS LLP Phone: (914) 272-3202 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Fax: (914) 272-3205 Washington, D.C. 20004 E-mail: wdennis@entergy.com Phone: (202) 739-3000 Fax: (202) 739-3001 E-mail: ksutton@morganlewis.com E-mail: pbessette@morganlewis.com E-mail: martin.oneill@morganlewis.com Counsel for Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. Dated in Washington, D.C. this 21st day of September 2011 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD In the Matter of ) Docket Nos. 50-247-LR and

) 50-286-LR ENTERGY NUCLEAR OPERATIONS, INC. )

)

(Indian Point Nuclear Generating Units 2 and 3) )

) September 21, 2011 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that, on September 21, 2011 , a copy of "Applicant's Surreply to the Combined Reply of Riverkeeper, Inc. and Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc.," was served el ectronically with the Electronic Information Exchange on the following recipients:

Administrative Judge

Lawrence G. McDade, Chair Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel

Mail Stop: T-3 F23

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 (E-mail: Lawrence.McDade@nrc.gov)

Administrative Judge Dr. Kaye D. Lathrop Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel

190 Cedar Lane E.

Ridgway, CO 81432 (E-mail: Kaye.Lathrop@nrc.gov) Administrative Judge Dr. Richard E. Wardwell Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel

Mail Stop: T-3 F23

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 (E-mail: Richard.Wardwell@nrc.gov)

Office of the Secretary Attn: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 (E-mail: hearingdocket@nrc.gov)

Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Mail Stop: O-7H4M

Washington, DC 20555-0001 (E-mail: ocaamail.resource@nrc.gov)

Josh Kirstein, Law Clerk Katherine Tucker, Law Clerk Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel

Mail Stop: T-3 F23

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 (E-mail: Josh.Kirstein@nrc.gov)

(E-mail: Katie.Tucker@nrc.gov)

2 Sherwin E. Turk, Esq.

Beth N. Mizuno, Esq.

David E. Roth, Esq.

Brian G. Harris, Esq.

Andrea Z. Jones, Esq.

Office of the General Counsel

Mail Stop: O-15D21

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 (E-mail: Sherwin.Turk@nrc.gov)

(E-mail: Beth.Mizuno@nrc.gov)

(E-mail: david.roth@nrc.gov)

(E-mail: brian.harris@nrc.gov)

(E-mail: andrea.jones@nrc.gov)

Melissa-Jean Rotini, Esq.

Assistant County Attorney

Office of Robert F. Meehan, Esq.

Westchester County Attorney

148 Martine Avenue, 6th Floor

White Plains, NY 10601 (E-mail: MJR1@westchestergov.com)

Manna Jo Greene Stephen C. Filler Karla Raimundi

Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc.

724 Wolcott Ave.

Beacon, NY 12508 (E-mail: mannajo@clearwater.org)

(E-mail: karla@clearwater.org)

(E-mail: stephenfiller@gmail.com)

Thomas F. Wood, Esq.

Daniel Riesel, Esq.

Victoria Shiah, Esq.

Sive, Paget & Riesel, P.C.

460 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10022 (E-mail: driesel@sprlaw.com)

(E-mail: vshiah@sprlaw.com)

Joan Leary Matthews, Esq. Associate Commissioner Hearings and Medi ation Services New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

625 Broadway, 14th Floor

Albany, NY 12233-1500 (E-mail: jlmatthe@gw.dec.state.ny.us)

John Louis Parker, Esq. Office of General Counsel, Region 3 NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation

21 S. Putt Corners Road

New Paltz, New York 12561-1620 (E-mail: jlparker@gw.dec.state.ny.us)

John J. Sipos, Esq.

Charlie Donaldson Esq.

Assistant Attorneys General Office of the Attorney General

of the State of New York

The Capitol

Albany, NY 12224-0341 (E-mail: John.Sipos@ag.ny.gov)

Michael J. Delaney, Esq. Vice President -Energy Department New York City Economic Development

Corporation (NYCDEC) 110 William Street New York, NY 10038

mdelaney@nycedc.com

3 DB1/ 68151683 Phillip Musegaas, Esq.

Deborah Brancato, Esq.

Riverkeeper, Inc.

20 Secor Road

Ossining, NY 10562 (E-mail: phillip@riverkeeper.org)

(E-mail: dbrancato@riverkeeper.org) Daniel E. O'Neill, Mayor James Siermarco, M.S.

Village of Buchanan Municipal Building

236 Tate Avenue

Buchanan, NY 10511-1298 (E-mail: vob@bestweb.net)

(E-mail: smurray@villageofbuchanan.com)

Robert D. Snook, Esq.

Assistant Attorney General Office of the Attorney General

State of Connecticut 55 Elm Street

P.O. Box 120

Hartford, CT 06141-0120 (E-mail: Robert.Snook@po.state.ct.us)

Janice A. Dean, Esq. Assistant Attorney General Office of the Attorney General

of the State of New York

120 Broadway, 26th Floor

New York, New York 10271 (E-mail: Janice.Dean@ag.ny.gov)

Signed (electronically) by Martin J. O'Neill Martin J. O'Neill, Esq. MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS LLP 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20004 Phone: (202) 739-5796 Fax: (202) 739-3001 E-mail: martin.oneill@morganlewis.com

Counsel for Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.